2026 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, July 7 – Sunday, July 12, 2026
- Munich, Germany
- LCM (50 meters)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Recaps
We’re about to enter day three’s final session of the 2026 European Junior Swimming Championships taking place in Munich, Germany.
In addition to several semi-finals serving as the second round from this morning’s heats, we’ll be treated to the final of the girls’ 1500m freestyle, boys’ 200m IM, girls’ 100m butterfly, boys’ 1500m freestyle and girls’ 4x200m free relay.
On key race on which to especially keep an eye will be the boys’ 200m IM, with Neutral Athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov of Russia already well ahead of his gold medal-winning performance in the event from 2025.
Shcherbakov ripped a new Championships Record of 1:57.07 last night to claim the top seed, becoming the 6th-fastest 18&U male in history. We’ll see if he has more in the tank for tonight’s main event as he enters the pool nearly three seconds ahead of his peers.
Kicking us off, however, will be the girls’ 1500m freestyle, where Hungary’s ace Vivien Jackl will try to upgrade her bronze medal from last year to gold as one of the top-tier athletes headed to the medal-contesting race.
GIRLS 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 15:25.48, Katie Ledecky (USA), 2015
- European Junior Record: 15:55.23, Merve Tuncel (TUR), 2021
- Championship Record: 15:55.23, Merve Tuncel (TUR), 2021
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 16:10.23, Amelie Blocksidge (GBR)
GOLD – Kseniia Misharina (NA), 16:05.46
SILVER – Vivien Jackl (HUN), 16:11.59
BRONZE – Anna Arshavskaia (NA), 16:25.25
The women’s 1500m freestyle saw 17-year-old Kseniia Misharina get it done for gold, hitting a near-personal best of 16:05.46 to top the podium.
The Russian, competing as a neutral athlete here, beat the field by over 6 seconds, with last year’s bronze medalist Vivien Jackl of Hungary upgrading her hardware to silver this time around in 16:11.59.
Fellow Russian Anna Arshavskaia wrapped up the podium in 16:25.25.
World Junior Championships multi-medalist Misharina’s career-swiftest mark rests at the 16:03.42 put up earlier this year. Jackl was also outside of her PB tonight, with her best-ever performance remaining at the 16:06.37 which garnered her the European Championships gold medalist last year in Serbia.
Although Arshavskaia’s time was also outside her PB, it blew away the 16:48.32 performance she nabbed last year to place well off the podium in 7th overall.
GIRLS 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (USA), 2019
- European Junior Record: 2:06.62, Benchmark
- Championship Record: 2:08.97, Polina Egrova (RUS), 2017
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 2:10.02, Estella Tonrath
TOP 8:
- Eva Rottink (NED) – 2:11.98
- Fanni Viktoria Kokas (HUN) – 2:12.08
- Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu (ROU) – 2:12.18
- Roos Rottink (NED) – 2:12.30
- Jeanne Lechevalier (FRA) – 2:12.37
- Mira Helget (GER) – 2:13.56
- Sara Costa (ESP) – 2:13.63
- Hanna Greta Kiraly (HUN) – 2:14.84
The girls’ 200m backstroke semi-finals saw Dutch swimmer Eva Rottink soar to the top of the rankings, with the Indiana University commit stopping the clock at a solid result of 2:11.98 as the sole swimmer of the field under the 2:12 barrier.
That’s a huge lifetime best for the future Hoosier, laying waste to the 2:13.96 notched at the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year.
Teammate Roos Rottink also made the top 8, claiming the 4th seed in 2:12.30, just .08 outside her best-ever 2:12.22 from the 2025 edition of the aforementioned competition.
Hungarian Fanni Viktoria Kokas claimed the top seed out of the morning heats in 2:12.13 and is very much still in the mix. She posted 2:12.08 tonight, with both efforts clearing her former PB of 2:13.18 notched at the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour this year.
The 2025 European Junior Championships bronze medalist Aissia-Claudia Prisecariu will also be in the hunt, capturing the 3rd seed in 2:12.18, already beating the 2:13.10 she logged last yer to land on the podium.
BOYS 200 IM – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 1:56.53, Yumeki Kojima (JPN), 2026
- European Junior Record: 1:56.99, Hubert Kos (HUN), 2021
- Championship Record: 1:57.07, Mikhail Shcherbakov (RUS), 2026
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 1:57.42, Dávid Antal (HUN)
GOLD – Mikhail Shcherbakov (NA), 1:58.12
SILVER – Emre Onus (TUR), 2:00.18
BRONZE – Simon Laviolette (BEL), 2:00.37
After his powerful performance of 1:57.07 last night which represented a new Championships Record, Russia’s Mikhail Shcherbakov was over a second slow, but still wound up with the gold when medals were on the line.
Shcherbakov still defeated the field handily, with his winning effort of 1:58.12 scoring the sole outing of the pack under the 2:00 barrier. His 1:57.07 record-setting performance last night rendered the teen the 6th-fastest 18&U male in history.
Turkey got on the board in this event, courtesy of Emre Onus who touched in 2:00.18, followed closely by Simon Laviolette of Belgium who rounded out the podium in 2:00.37.
GIRLS 50 FREE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 24.17, Claire Curzan (USA), 2021
- European Junior Record: 24.56, Sara Curtis (ITA), 2024
- Championship Record: 24.67, Sara Curtis (ITA), 2024
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 25.00, Martine Damborg (DEN)
GOLD – Theodora Taylor (GBR), 24.82
SILVER – Irene Ciercoles (ESP), 24.91
BRONZE – Kira Manokhina (NA), 25.02
It was a thrilling girls’ 50m freestyle final which saw the top 3 seeds from last night’s semi’s all land on the podium, albeit in a rearranged order.
After hitting 24.86 yesterday for the 2nd seed, 17-year-old British ace Theodora Taylor mustered a little more speed to ultimately stop the clock at 24.82 to reap gold tonight.
That outing is off the 24.59 PB she established at this year’s Aquatics GB Championships to put a new British Age Group Record on the books.
Spain’s Irene Ciercoles logged 24.82 to lead the semi’s but added slightly to post 24.91, still good enough for the silver and the only other result under 25 seconds.
Kira Manokhina of Russia bagged the bronze, touching in 25.02, to narrowly miss the 24.98 PB which gave her a 5th place finish at last year’s World Junior Championships.
As for Taylor, the British teen is building up quite the resume when it comes to this event. Taylor has earned multiple silvers in the race, including at last year’s World Junior Championships and the European Junior Championships. Prior to that, she set the ground work with a gold at the 2023 European Youth Olympic Festival and also at that year’s Commonwealth Youth Games.
BOYS 50 FREESTYLE – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (USA), 2017/21.75, Nikita Sheremet (UKR), 2025
- European Junior Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (GER), 2019
- Championship Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (GER), 2019
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 22.14 Tajus Juska (LTU)
TOP 8:
- Jan Foltyn (CZE) – 22.03
- Luca Hoek (ESP) – 22.07
- Cristian Tassan-Caser (ITA) – 22.19
- Gabriel Crassard (FRA) – 22.36 & Larus Thiel (GER) – 22.36 & Zdenek Prochazka (CZE) – 22.36
- –
- –
- Jakob Harlem (NOR) – 22.38
- Aran Bissett (GBR) – 22.43
We saw our first senior national record bite the dust on tonight’s session, with 18-year-old speedster Jan Foltyn downing the Czech standard in on his way to claiming the #1 seed in this boys’ 50m freestyle.
Foltyn ripped a big-time personal best of 22.03 to lead the field, knocking .19 off his former lifetime best and NR of 22.24 put on the books just this past April at the Bergen Swim Festival.
Foltyn leads Spanish national record holder Luca Hoek, whose time of 22.07 nearly equaled the 22.08 turned in this morning as the #1 swimmer out of the heats.
Earlier this year Hoek delivered a powerful lifetime best of 21.93 to establish a new Spanish national record, becoming the 5th-swiftest 18&U male in history in the process.
More recently Hoek punched a monster result of 47.72 to clock a Spanish standard in the 100m free, as well as a new 1:46.10 national record in the 200m free. Hoek enters this year’s competition as the reigning European Junior Championships 50m free bronze medalist, having clinched 3rd place last year in 22.28.
Italy has a horse in the running, with Cristian Tassan-Caser sitting 3rd in 22.19, as a trio of swimmers all tied for the 4th-seeded position in 22.36 to make this a must-watch final for tomorrow night. Tassan-Caser scorched his former PB of 22.41 put up at this year’s Italian Championships.
As a refresher, the gold medalist from last year, Tajus Juska of Lithuania, no-showed this event this morning in favor of the 100m buttefly.
GIRLS 200 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (TUR), 2015
- European Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (TUR), 2015
- Championship Record: 2:21.07, Evgenia Chikunova (RUS), 2019
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 2:27.48, Lena Ludwig (GER)
TOP 8:
- Viktoriia Kariuk (NA) – 2:26.21
- Kay-Lyn Lohr (SUI – 2:26.84
- Lucrezia Mancini (ITA) – 2:27.21
- Imogen Myles (GBR) – 2:27.27
- Yana Klikotska (UKR) – 2:28.74
- Daria Asaftei (ROU) – 2:29.17
- Marta Taddei (ITA) – 2:30.20
- Hanna Zsofia Zambori (HUN) – 2:30.87
This morning we saw four girls dip under the 2:30 barrier in the heats of the 200m breaststroke and additional athletes joined the party after tonight’s semi-finals.
Neutral Athlete Viktoriia Kariuk remained on top of her peers, with the 17-year-old dropping well over a second off the 2:27.94 logged this morning. That earlier outing representing just the their occasion on which she was under 2:30 thus far in her young career.
Kariuk’s time this evening represents a shiny new personal best, crushing the 2:27.47 nabbed in April 2025.
Swiss swimmer Kay-Lyn Lohr surged up the rankings to currently rank immediately behind Kariuk, owning a swim of 2:26.84 to have the edge of Italy’s Lucrezia Mancini who collected the 4th seed in 2:27.27. Lohr has been as quick as 2:26.22 from April of this year, while Mancini’s outing sliced just under half a second off her former best-ever result of 2:27.50 from this year’s Italian Championships.
Great Britain is also vying for potential hardware, as Imogen Myles put up 2:27.27. Myles earned a 4th-place finish at this year’s Aquatics GB Championships, earning a time of 2:26.56.
BOYS 200 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (USA), 2017/21.75 Nikita Sheremet (UKR), 2025
- European Junior Record: 2:08.32, Filip Nowacki (GBR), 2025
- Championship Record: 2:08.32, Filip Nowacki (GBR), 2025
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 2:08.32, Filip Nowacki (GBR)
TOP 8:
BOYS 200 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017
- European Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017
- Championship Record: 1:55.79, Oleksandr Zheltyakov (UKR), 2023
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 1:57.89, Zsombor Rácz (HUN)
TOP 8:
GIRLS 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 56.20, Claire Curzan (USA), 2021
- European Junior Record: 56.46, Benchmark
- Championship Record: 56.95, Lana Pudar (BIH), 2023
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 58.30, Martine Damborg (DEN)
GOLD –
SILVER –
BRONZE –
BOYS 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINALS
- World Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2018
- European Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2018
- Championship Record: 51.35, Egor Kuimov (RUS), 2017
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 52.54, Tajus Juska (LTU)
TOP 8:
BOYS 1500 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 14:41.22, Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), 2024
- European Junior Record: 14:41.22, Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), 2024
- Championship Record: 14:41.89, Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR), 2024
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 14:45.05, Kuzey Tuncelli (TUR)
GOLD –
SILVER –
BRONZE –
GIRLS 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
- World Junior Record: 7:51.47, Canada, 2017
- European Junior Record: 7:56.06, Italy, 2025
- Championship Record: 7:56.06, Italy, 2025
- 2025 European Junior Champion: 7:56.06, Italy
GOLD –
SILVER –
BRONZE –
